Survey: 53 Percent of Respondents Disapprove of Raimondo

A new survey of the nation's governors has a troubling finding for Governor Gina Raimondo: her disapproval rating (53 percent) is 12 points higher than...

by Ian Donnis

A new survey of the nation's governors has a troubling finding for Governor Gina Raimondo: her disapproval rating (53 percent) is 12 points higher than her 41 percent approval rating.

Morning Consult said it surveyed more than 66,000 voters in all 50 states from January until early May to develop its results. Five percent of respondents were undecided about Raimondo, and the survey has a margin of error of 5.7 percentage points.

With a 72 percent approval rating, the Republican governor of Massachusetts, Charlie Baker, came out on top of Morning Consult's survey.

Delaware Governor Jack Markell, a Brown University graduate, has the best rating for a Democrat in the survey, with an approval rating of 66 percent (and a 23 percent disapproval rating).

Yet Raimondo's standing is far better than that of Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy, who has a 29 percent approval rating in the Morning Consult survey and a staggering 64 percent disapproval rating.

In response to a request for comment, Raimondo spokeswoman Marie Aberger said, "It’s not surprising Rhode Islanders believe we have more work to do – the Governor is the first to agree with that. We knew this turnaround wouldn’t happen overnight, and the Governor is going to keep working tirelessly, listening out in the community, and driving to results."

Raimondo enjoyed better approval ratings during her time as state treasurer, before winning the governor's office in 2014.

She's faced criticism this year over a new plan to impose tolls on big trucks to pay for infrastructure improvements, and the flawed rollout of the state's new tourism campaign, among some other issues.